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Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > January > 23 > Entry

1/23: Charleston American Idol auditions

By Rodney Ho | Wednesday, January 23, 2008, 05:54 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sadly, the “Idol” producers didn’t show us much that was good from South Carolina. Jefferey Lampkin is probably the only one I’ll remember by the Hollywood round of the four we saw who got the Golden Ticket (and one of the four was Jefferey’s not-as-good sister.) And why didn’t the Air Force gal get through? Huh?

Instead of starting with good singers like last night, the puppet masters opt for “characters.” First up is afro-man Raysharde Henderson of Atlanta (first Atlantan we’ve seen so far!), who compares himself to Clay Aiken. He’s just over the top and as noted by Paula, theatrical. It’s a no.

Then there’s the rather unpleasant-looking waitress DeAnna Prevatte from Kellie Pickler’s hometown Albermarle, N.C.. She’s rather intense, but not in a good way. “I like the anger and the passion,” Simon said, but it’s a no.

The Idol fans: awww… it’s love. Crystal Ortiz and Randy Stark of Abilene met through the “Idol” message forums where he supposedly doles advice about the audition process. They were clearly put there for back story, not talent. She’s actually not as bad as he is but he got more airtime. “That was a horrible audition,” Simon said. “The good news is you found each other.”

Sibling hallelulah!: Michelle and Jefferey Lampkin!! They are actually pretty good and possess a lot of spirit, especially Jefferey. “You were the bomb,” Randy said to Jefferey. Randy says yes to only Jeffery. Paula says yes to both. Simon, shockingly, says yes to both, too. He said he couldn’t split them up. What sweet tea did Simon drink in Charleston????

Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” is the unfortunate “group” song.

Gimme an A!: Cheerleader Amy Flynn tries to channel Christina Aguilera, a risky move, after a speech about, like, abstinence, like, totally. She’s, like, cute and has an interesting, raspy voice. She’s just different enough to cut through. “This isn’t going to be quite so thumbs up, Amy. I personally thought the song was too big for you,” Simon said. “A lot of people are going to find you annoying. You are very confident and I don’t think you’re as good as you think you are.” She’s through!

zzzz…: London Weidberg, 24, from Charleston, is a professional singer and she’s not bad. Kinda dull. “You have a nice tone to your voice but not the best song,” Randy said. “There are thousands of singers like you,” Simon said. “I didn’t hear anything unique.” I agree with Simon.

Fly, Lindsey, fly!: Air Force C-17 pilot Lyndsey Goodman is the latest back story. She’s gorgeous and is in the military. Can she sing, too? She could use some work but she has potential after doing a pleasant “Black Velvet.” “I liked it. Had a couple of pitch things,” Randy said. “I’m concerned your nerves,” Paula said. “It held you back.” “I think you are a very good cabaret singer. I don’t think you are a contemporary recording artist,” Simon said. She got ousted! I’m shocked! Oh, well…

Queen of Delusion: Aretha Codner, named after Aretha Franklin, says she’s as good as Fantasia. She goes for Whitney — big mistake. She’s decent but clearly not good enough. She misses some big notes, too. “The funny blue dress. the huge belt, the screaming. It didn’t work and the singing was terrible,” Simon said. “It is amazing,” she said. “I stop crowds.” “You mean the crowds disappear?” Simon said. “Come on. You seriously murdered the Whitney Houston song.” “No… I thought I did a great job,” she said.

King of Delusion: Joshua Bosin of Beaufort S.C. goes all Jennifer Holliday on us —if she were a guy and really awful. “This show is faked and rigged,” he complained. “My talent is too big for this competition to hold,” he later proclaimed.

Tara Smith comes by and sucks. So do a bunch of others. Oliver Highman, 27, of Cornelius, is a new daddy whose wife had a baby the first day of auditions. He makes it to day two. I can’t get past the fact he looks like a Merrill Lynch stockbroker. And his voice is all over the place. He gets a no but he does show off his baby. And he takes the rejection just fine because, heck, he’s a dad!

In the end, 23 made it through. We only saw four Hollywood-bound folks. We also saw 9 “no’s.” So 106 contestants are off to Hollywood after four cities. We’ve seen 30 of them. (Mike S— tell me if I got that off-the-top-of-my-head count correct!)

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By ,,,=^..^=,,, from home

January 23, 2008 7:18 PM | Link to this

well, i’m preparing to eat a yummy dinner… gotta love a man who cooks, and does it well! … and then settle in to watch the few good moments we will be offered from Charleston. Might see you guys later, might just pick up a good book and curl up and read..

By Deirdre

January 23, 2008 9:07 PM | Link to this

I’m kind of annoyed. 23 made it to Hollywood from Charleston and they only showed 4. Why? It seems they wanted Charleston to look bad. The good ones that we saw weren’t that good. The bad ones were just boring.

I CANNOT believe they said yes to Jeffrey’s sister Michelle and no to that nice Air Force pilot.

London was ok..nothing special.

And the little Dance Team girl named Amy…wasn’t nearly as good as the new daddy.

What were the judges smoking in Charleston!?

By kellyfan(from home)

January 23, 2008 9:09 PM | Link to this

With apologies, here are my stream of consciousness notes:

Charleston!

Lame Black Eye Peas intro…..

Oliver Highman - another Phil Stacey moment. “My wife’s in labor…gotta go!”

Ryeshard Henderson - Wow, holy 70’s, the look, the hair. He calls himself “The Black Clay Aiken” Sings I can’t Make You Love Me…and he’s decent. Simon says he does reminded him of Clay. They tell him to find out who he is, it was too teatrical (Maybe he should look into being the understudy for Spamalot?). Not ready and doesn’t make it.

DeAnna Prevatte - From the same town as the Pickle! LOL. Goes on about Kellie: “If I lose you I’m more likely to walk around with a baseball bat than red high heels.” She’s a waitress complaining about the Sunday crowds because of the new “All You Can Eat” specials. She does Fancy. Simon “It was a bit angry…must be the Sunday people.” Doesn’t make it. (I’m starting to see a trend tonight.)

Crystal Ortiz and Randy Stark - met on the ai.com’s message board. Ah, geek love. Ew. They audition together “She’s More.” It is a train wreck. Randy gives advice about auditioning. That’s funny. Congrats on the love, but go home.

Michelle and Jeffery Lampkin - Wow, gotta have that “OW” factor. My ears do, thanks. Why does he have a tie around his head? Singing I’m Your Angel. And I’m surprised, he’s actually fairly good. His sister’s just ok. Both are through!

Oh, lord….the group sing is “Before He Cheats”! I really like that song…but I’m questioning that now. “I’m gonna stomp on his car, ‘cause he broke my heart.” I must’ve missed that line.

Amy Flynn - Dance team captain. (She is 16). Talks about abstinence to other kids. Ok, inappropriate comments about Simon needing to be abstinence. She gets off into her speech. It was cute…sort of. Sings Reflections, it was ok, but I wasn’t blown away. Simon says that a lot of people would find her annoying. However, she is through.

London Weidberg - Charleston native, fairly pretty. Her dad died of cancer. Sings Billie Holiday’s Good Morning Heartacke. Fairly decent tone. Good voice, but not unique. I agree with Simon there. She’s through. Don’t think she’ll survive Hollywood week.

15 people made it on day 1, we only saw 4. Boo.

Day Two…..

Lindsey Goodman - Air Force Pilot….flies C-17s. (She is the Roswell native). She’s fairly pretty, nice blue eyes. Sings Black Velvet. Her breathing’s off, but she’s got a decent voice. She doesn’t make it,

Aretha Codner - Whoa! (Since we had the black Clay Aiken, can she be the black Dolly Parton?) It’s hard not to stare. Sings I Have Nothing. It wasn’t good. She insists that she can sing. She gets a unanimous no, but she keeps arguing…and getting on my nerves.

Joshua Boson - The only good thing about this whole thing is his outfit (the UGA colors). Other than that it’s painful..and no, I’m not gonna love you! Sorry! He says the show’s fake ‘cause he got cut. He storms off right before they even say no. Keeps going on and on and on. “Artists-es?!”

Tara Smith - No idea what she sang…no.

The medley of “no’s.” Lots of bad singers in Charleston.

Oliver Highman is back. His wife had a little girl, Emma Grace. I like the name. He busts Get Here. Started ok, but went into too much. Doesn’t make it. He’s a really nice guy and his baby is adorably cute. I kind of wanted him to make it.

They picked a total of 23.

Next week it’s Nebraska. (Here’s hoping for some farmer’s daughters, WE!)

By Deirdre

January 23, 2008 9:25 PM | Link to this

There was nothing about the show tonight that made it worth the time I spent watching it. Boring! And deceptive!

By kellyfan(from home)

January 23, 2008 9:55 PM | Link to this

D, I completely agree…shame. :(

By Mike S

January 23, 2008 10:23 PM | Link to this

OK that was a totally underwhelming disaster. We got to see a whole 4 - FOUR! - out of 23 golden tickets. And they weren’t even a WOW 4. GRRRRRRRR

Anyway one gem - Jeffrey Lampkin - could he be the next Rueben. He has one heck of a voice, and seems to be a goofball. He could be a fun contestant.

Michele Lampkin - not as good as her brother, will probably get lost in Hollywood.

Amy Flynn - simon nailed it, she thinks she is a lot better than she really is. But, she is through so we shall see.

London Wiedberg - nice girl, decent voice, but nothing special. Will need to bring it up a lot in Hollywood

TRAVESTY OF THE YEAR - How in the He** did Lyndsey Goodman not get through — the lady could SANG!!!! And she was hot on top of it (definate stiffy factor in Flats speech). Anyway, I am really p** off about this one.

Not quite as upset about Oliver, he did have some major vibrato, but I thought he was worthy of a golden ticket.

All in all a very dissappointing night.

we have now seen 30 of 107 golden tickets. (you were off by one Rodney) :-)

By Justin

January 23, 2008 11:39 PM | Link to this

That London girl is pretty fine lookin’ haha… I’m sorry but I actually weirdly though Aretha was good… I know she missed some parts and sang in different keys, which was very strange, but I thought they would have given her another chance definately… plus she’s from Bufflo, not too far from my town!! Well… maybe an hour and a half

By oldsoul

January 24, 2008 1:10 AM | Link to this